DESCRIPTION (Taken from application) The U.S.-Japan Cooperative Medical Science Program was initiated in 1965 by an agreement between the President of the United States and the Prime Minister of Japan. The Nutrition and Metabolism Panel is one of a number of scientifically focused groups organized under this Program to foster scientific interchange and provide leadership in identifying areas of research priority for the two countries. The Panel functions by organizing annual conferences, alternating between the United States and Japan, which explore the frontiers of science in one of the Panel's several priority areas of nutritional science (antioxidants, calcium metabolism in osteoporosis and cell signalling, obesity and nutritional assessment, lipid metabolism, antioxidants in health and disease, and endogenous mediators). Increasingly, these areas have overlapped in scientific content and research approaches. The 1997 Conference will be held outside Portland, Oregon on September 25-28, 1997. The theme for the U S. Japan Nutrition and Metabolism Panel will be the role of oxidants and antioxidant therapy in disease. Oxidative stress is believed to play an important pathogenetic role in several disease states. Common cellular mechanisms, methodologies to study the pathogenesis of these diseases, and approaches to therapy are common to many of these disorders. A program has been developed that features leading researchers working on oxidants and antioxidants. They will systematically assess the current state-of-the-art as well as point the way to the future. It is hoped that interactions developed at this meeting will foster the use of new approaches, models and endpoints and lead to collaborative interactions amongst investigators.